Tell the U.S. to Release the Records and Acknowledge the Crime

Although the massacre of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people (possibly more) in Indonesia in 1965-1967 is a crucial event in modern Indonesian political history, it remains mostly a footnote in the United States and elsewhere. In 2012, the documentary The Act of Killing shocked audiences throughout the world as perpetrators of the mass murder reenacted their violence. The film has fueled a debate within Indonesia and drawn attention internationally to events long kept out of U.S. history books: Events that the U.S. government facilitated and celebrated.

A companion film, The Look of Silence, is currently showing at film festivals. It focuses on the victims by following the investigation of Adi Rukun into the murder of his older brother who was killed during the violence.

While these are powerful films, any discussion of the events of 1965-1967 must include a discussion of the role of Western powers in this violence, including that of the United States. In conjunction, with the release of the film The Look of Silence, the East Timor and IndonesiaAction Network (ETAN) continues its call for accountability for those in the West who encouraged and assisted in the mass violence in Indonesia.

Join ETAN in urging the U.S. government to take two immediate steps:

1) Declassify and release all documents related to the U.S. role in the mass violence, including the CIA’s so-called "job files." These detail its covert operations.

2) The U.S. should formally acknowledge its role in facilitating the 1965-66 violence and its subsequent support for the brutalities of the Suharto regime.